She Wore Two Mouths For Eyes
by PuhsPuhs
Summary: AU. On the quest to break away and have fun, Rachel stumbles upon a promising looking bar where she meets a curiously interesting blonde. Intrigued by the girls mystery, Rachel decides to make it her mission to discover the blonde's secret.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: I wrote this for a very interesting prompt over at the Rq_AU_meme. I'll try and update as soon as I can, I lead a very hectic lifestyle so I'll do my best tp update. The bar mentioned in this (Vox) is also a real bar in my town where I spend most of my weekends at._

_Anyway, I hope you enjoy it (:_

_

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_The thin laminated plastic caught the bright glow of the light fixture positioned above her drooped head, the picture in the left hand corner of the card vanished in and out of focus as she turned it over in her hands. The white shine of the bulb bounced off the reflective surface, restricting the girls visibility from the information neatly inscribed upon the identification card.

Rachel's face was shielded by a thick veil of espresso coloured hair as she studied the ID some more, two of her fingers ghosted across the thumbnail sized photo letting them trace her beaming smile which shone flatly back at her.

Tonight was going to be a big step for Rachel. Tonight she had deemed the night she would finally, after some much needed time, have fun. It was a simple thing that many of her peers managed so easily yet she continuously struggled to engage in the most simplest forms of fun. She had become accustomed to it though, after all it was mostly her own fault. She was so focused on her school work, ambitions and her overall thirst to achieve that living a normal teenage life had unfortunately taken a back seat.

After many weeks of preparation and careful planning, Rachel finally held what would hopefully be her ticket to an enjoyable evening. Trying to think of a sufficient way to prove to herself, that yes Rachel Berry can have fun was difficult at first. She knew most people her age participated in illegal activities to get their kicks and she wanted to avoid that. But, much to her dismay a night of searching the internet for ways to have adequate, none breaking the law fun seemed impossible. Well, not unless you were a twelve year old and Rachel didn't believe a party with balloons, a bouncy castle, fairy cakes and orange squash would do her any justice to boost her social status.

So she had settled for the illegal option, and after a week of anxiously waiting for the post every day before school her desired package finally arrived on a wet, muggy Thursday morning. Rachel was shocked to learn that you could actually buy illegal identification online. The site she had visited promised they were legit and with convincing words of reassurance, the brunette was sending a passport sized photo along with a check for sixty dollars off to the company. She was apprehensive, half of her expecting it to be a scam but when the snap of the letter box echoed throughout the house and a crisp white envelop plopped onto the door matt with the small logo of the website stamped in the corner; she squealed.

Rachel sucked in a deep breath, releasing it in a sharp huff she stood from the closed toilet lid and faced the mirror above the bathroom sink regarding her reflection. Her hair spilled around her shoulders, framing her face in loose tousled waves. She had made an effort with her eyes in an attempt to look older, her lids were a deep shade of purple lined with a dark pencil, her eyelashes coated in a thick black mascara. She had gone for the understated yet classy outfit, a simple tight black dress which accentuated her curves perfectly. She looked good, hot even though her aim for tonight wasn't to pull or better yet, be pulled.

Giving her appearance the last once over and fluffing her hair up slightly before adding a final smear of clear lip gloss to full lips, she was ready. Luckily, she didn't need to explain her sudden transformation to either of her dads since they were out dinning at some restaurant for their weekly "Friday date nights." Considerate as always and in case they worried for her whereabouts, Rachel had stuck a post it note to the refrigerator saying she had "popped out" and "don't wait up."

She sat perched on the edge of the plush sofa in the living room, her fingers nervously fiddled with the clasp to her bag as she waited for the honk of a car horn signalling her taxis arrival. Of course, being fully prepared for this evening meant that Rachel had already pre-booked a cab to come and collect her. After a few more minutes of waiting the blare of a car horn sounded outside, she jumped up from her seat and stumbled slightly due to her heels. She wouldn't consider them necessarily high yet they were quite a difference to her Mary Jane's.

She gathered up her bag and smoothed her dress before heading to the front door, pulling it to a close and locking up. She slid into the back seat, shyly smiling at the taxi driver through the interior mirror. "Where to?" The man asked while he tried to tune the radio to a station dedicated to the 80's ignoring the brunettes polite hello.

Rachel had thought about "where to" for the last week. She knew she needed to avoid a club or bar in Lima at the chance of being recognised. So she had settled on visiting the town over from Lima, she was pretty sure she would be safe in the knowledge that no one would know her there. She gave the man the town name and he swiftly pulled away from her house.

The taxi ride wasn't exactly pleasant. The back seats were scattered with burn holes where people had most probably stubbed out their cigarettes and they were sticky with something Rachel didn't care to know the source of. The radio was too load and the driver insisted on carrying out a rather inappropriate conversation with his girlfriend through his mobile for the entire journey.

"Where do you want dropping?" The guy swivelled his torso to look at Rachel through the thin plastic shield that separated the back seats from the front.

She took in her surroundings, trying to gage a suitable place in which she could possibly have a good time. Though everywhere looked pretty bleak. They were currently on the outskirts of the town, the strip of road they were travelling down was lined either side with small suburban houses and cheap looking liquor stores. She anticipated whether to just ask the guy to keep driving until they reached a more substantial area, though the idea of riding in a grubby cab for much longer wasn't all to appealing.

"Here will do," she rummaged through her bag, pulling out fifteen dollars and handed them over to the taxi drivers waiting hand.

She climbed out of the car and stood on the side of the curb, wrapping her arms around her waist tightly as she watched the cab speed off with a screech of the wheels. The air possessed a damp chill, the sky was coloured a dull black where a thick, grey cloud formation filled the vast space. She began to walk in the direction of where the towns lights appeared more ample, hoping that in the centre there would be more life. She came to a set of traffic lights which displayed green, she checked both ways anyway just to be safe before she crossed and noticed a narrow side street lit up by only two street lamps.

Considering it could be a short cut into the towns heart since it was leading in that general direction, Rachel decided to take the detour. Her heels clicked and occasionally scuffed the uneven sidewalk as she followed the road around a bend, the sound echoed around her in the silent air. She was just about to give up and turn around, beginning to feel unsafe since she was alone in such a dark street when the road began to widen and span out. The low hum of voices and laughter not so far away made her pick up her pace as she carried on.

Eventually she reached a corner and as she turned, she arrived in another cobbled street which was buzzing with activity. There were a few quiet looking pubs with warm, welcoming lights gleaming in frosted glazed windows. One side of the pavement was littered with various busy looking bars, the music from inside muffled by the walls though still audible. She continued to walk the length of the street, taking in her surroundings until she spotted a group of men and women gathered outside of a particularly large bar all smoking and swigging their drinks out of pint glasses. She tilted her head to the side as she walked to read the name of the bar and in harsh blue neon lights, the name Vox shone above her. As she neared even closer she could distinctively hear a live band playing from inside, the low bass and drum beat pulsed through the ground making Rachel's body hum.

The idea of checking out a bar with an actual live band instead of choosing a place where the typical dance tracks boomed out was to good of an opportunity to pass up. She pushed past the loud group of people so she could make her way to the bars double doors.

There was a large burly man standing in the arch way of the bars entrance, he stood with his hands clasped in front of him in tight fists with a stern expression on his face, he did appear quite threatening. Rachel gathered that this must be the bouncer. She haltered her steps and stood off to the side, suddenly extremely nervous. This would be it, she would finally see if her ID would pay off or let her down. She rummaged around in her small bag and pulled out the plastic card, inspecting it one last time. She breathed in a composing breath and made her way over to the intimidating man.

The bouncer saw her approach, his narrowed eyes already running over her body taking in her appearance and probably a lot more. "ID?" He spoke with a deep, gruff voice. His hand already extended, waiting.

Rachel nodded and made sure to hold his stare as to not look suspicious. She handed it over and the man's eyes skimmed over the information, his dull grey eyes flickered from the picture up to the actual girl from the photo in front of him. Finally, he grunted in approval, "have a good evening, Miss." He stepped aside to let her pass.

Rachel couldn't help but beam her biggest smile. With a flourish, she flipped her hair over her bare shoulder and entered Vox with a new found confidence. She was actually doing this, her ID had now served it's purpose and she was ecstatic.

Her confidence soon wavered when she was inside. It was quite spacious, every inch of floor from what she could see was more or less covered with people. It was ridiculously busy and extremely loud. The live band she had heard from outside were still playing, they appeared quite popular as she took in the huge crowd which congregated around the medium sized stage. The drummer was in the middle of enthusiastically pounding out a drum solo, from where she was standing she couldn't really make out any of the other performing band members. The bar was smoky and hot, everyone in her line of sight was silhouetted against the steamy haze which was coloured a bluey red from the large spot lights rotating around the stage and dance floor.

It was a lively atmosphere and Rachel soon realised that this bar attracted a certain audience, of the alternative kind. The men were rather casually dressed and so were the women, both genders were clothed in indie type wear. This made her feel overdressed and out of place. A few guys were already looking her over with interest while a couple of girls looked at her with distaste. Shrugging off any negative vibes she was feeling, she decided that she should purchase a drink.

The drinks bar was just as crowded, she had to literally shove her way to the front but soon found her order wouldn't be taken any time soon. There were six bar staff working at a frantic pace pulling pints, popping bottles and mixing drinks. She had already researched various alcoholic beverages and knew what she wanted to try so she turned her head in the direction of the band who were just finishing up a number.

Rachel could see now that she was closer that the lead was male, he high fived a few of the crowd members before jumping off the wooden stage, disappearing into the sea of people. She watched the other band members place their instruments off to the side, the coloured spot lights remained on but dimmed, they were obviously taking a break. Rachel faced the bar again to see if anyone was available to serve her and found she was in luck. A young man leaned over the wooden surface so he could hear her order over the rowdy noise. "Vodka orange. Please," she raised her voice so she was practically shouting in his ear.

"Nice choice, though I prefer with Coke."

Rachel started slightly at the sudden voice surprisingly close to her ear. She turned to face a man with a Mohawk, his arms crossed over the bar surface. He was slouching slightly, his gaze fixed on Rachel as he smiled down at her, though she would of classed it as more of a smirk.

Before she could form a reply, the bar guy was back with her drink. He tapped the order in the till and shouted out the price. "I've got this," the man next to her said. He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a few dollars, handing them over before Rachel could protest.

He turned now, fully facing the brunette and extended a hand. "I'm Puck," Rachel eyed him for a second, wondering what kind of name was Puck and doubted that this was the mans real name before cautiously taking his hand and gave it a light shake.

"Rachel. You really didn't have to buy me my drink, but thank you."

He shrugged. "It's the least I can do for a pretty face. I like to welcome in the new crowd." Puck leaned back against the bar and took a bottle of water offered to him by the same guy that served her. So he knew Rachel wasn't a regular here, she frowned.

"How do you know I don't come here often?" She asked him, taking a sip of her drink. She grimaced slightly, the taste would take some getting used to.

"Often?" He smirked at her and continued, "everyone here is a regular. Most people come every night, you soon get to know the newbies."

"So you work here?" Rachel queried.

"No. I provide the music, babe. Me and my band, we play here every Thursday to Sunday. I have to lay down a day job in the mean time. But _this_ is what I do." He gestured towards the stage and instruments, an affectionate smile forming on his lips.

Right away Rachel could tell music and his band were important to him. She nodded, "so what do you play?"

He chuckled and shook his head, leaning closer to Rachel. "I sing," Puck then gave her a cheeky wink and she playfully rolled her eyes. He must think this line worked on the women every time, knowing most girls were a sucker for a musician.

"Am I right in assuming that that is a charm the ladies find hard to resist?" She raised her eyebrows questioningly.

He grinned smugly back at her, "You know it. No one can, babe. And neither will you." Okay, so he was pretty arrogant. "When I'm finished up here, I can give you a private show, if you like. You won't be disappointed." Okay so a lot arrogant. He trailed a lazy index finger along her forearm, meeting her eyes with a hooded gaze.

Rachel actually snorted, this guy was far too presumptuous. "You're pretty confident aren't you? What makes you think I would want to leave with you?" She pulled her arm away from his touch and crossed her arms.

"The ladies always do. Believe me, babe; I'm hard to resist." He ignored her obvious show of defence and discomfort and moved even closer, his hot breath ghosted across her neck and cheeks.

This guy was unbelievable, she cringed as she expected what was to come and clenched her fists, preparing herself in case she needed to use force to get him to back off. She un-scrunched her eyes when she heard him sigh audibly. He pulled away and straightened his posture, turning to face a blonde girl who had a hold of his bicep.

The right side of her face was obscured from view by Puck's large form but Rachel could see the girl was pointing. Rachel's eyes followed the direction of her extended arm and found she was pointing towards the stage. Puck nodded and ignoring Rachel altogether like he wasn't just hitting on her, followed the blonde girl into the crowd.

Rachel was actually offended, she glared after where the two had disappeared. He could have been polite and excused himself. The spot lights which were before dimmed suddenly lit up, casting a bright light directly onto the stage. People all around her turned and some hurriedly pushed themselves into the throngs of people jostling to get a place at the front of the stage. There was a loud collective cheer from more or less everyone in the bar as she watched Puck stroll onto the wooden platform, he was soon followed by his band members one of whom was the blonde girl she had just seen.

Puck took a hold of the microphone, his eyes trailing across the crowd of people before him. "How is every one doing tonight?" There was a chorus of more cheers, Rachel knew he was stalling while the rest of the band set up their equipment. Her eyes wandered back to the blonde girl from earlier, her body was almost angled entirely towards the back drop of the stage. Her head was drooped as she tuned her acoustic guitar, her fingers moved in quick precise movements as the twisted the machine heads. Now the lights were brighter she could make out her appearance more clearly. Her hair was tied back in a messy, loose pony tail. She wore an oversized white vest top with black leggings and pixie boots. Her face was still hidden from view even though she had finished setting up her guitar.

"Alright guys, this is our last song for this evening. How does a bit of Eagle-Eye Cherry sound, yeah?" The crowd erupted into whoops and cheers. Puck bowed his head, clutching the microphone and began to tap his left foot, his index finger raised in the air signalling his mark to the rest of the band members he was ready to start. On cue, the opening notes of _"Save Tonight" _filled the space. Rachel's head snapped immediately to blonde who had begun playing the acoustic. She watched as the girls left hand slid elegantly along the neck, her fingers strummed and plucked at the strings with definite, practised ease. Rachel's attention was all to soon interrupted when Puck began to sing the first verse of the song.

"_Go on and close the curtains_

_All we need is candlelight_

_You and me and a bottle of wine_

_Going to hold you tonight..."_

Rachel had to admit, he did have a very clear and enjoyable voice; he could definitely sing. An electric guitar soon piped up, accompanying the acoustic but the man playing the instrument didn't hold her interest quite as much as the blonde did. Rachel was perplexed, the whole band were quite involved in the song, except for the blonde. She remained unmoving for the entire number, her head bowed and posture stiff. She didn't interact with the audience once.

"_Save tonight_

_And fight the break of dawn_

_Come tomorrow_

_Tomorrow I'll be gone..."_

The last notes rung throughout the room as Puck held is finishing pose. The crowd erupted once again into clapping and loud cheers. "Thanks guys! See you tomorrow night," He replaced the microphone back into it's stand and hopped off the stage, closely followed by the rest of the band members. Rachel remained still for a few seconds, her eyes fixed on the now empty stage. Her thoughts were still very much tuned into the performance, and that girls ability to play the guitar with such finesse. Her eyes became focused to her current surroundings again and abandoning her barely touched drink, she pushed herself off of leaning against the bar. She squeezed herself through the dense crowd of people in search of the band (well, more the blonde girl) in the hopes of congratulating them.

She found Puck by a closed back entrance. He was alone talking animatedly with a few men and women but unfortunately the blonde wasn't with him. She thought of interrupting Puck and asking where she was but that would be rude, so she shoved her way through another wall of bodies until she spotted her.

She had returned to the stage to tidy up some of the equipment, she was crouched on the ground wrapping amp wires around the body of her guitar. Rachel approached her hesitantly, her arms folded behind her back. "Hey?" She ducked her head to try and catch the girls eye but the blonde remained oblivious, she obviously hadn't heard or seen the brunette.

Rachel spoke up. "Hi..." This time the girl looked up for a fleeting second before returning her attention to her instrument.

"I just wanted to congratulate you, on your performance. You are very good, have you been playing the guitar for long?" Rachel was genuinely curious, the blonde didn't appear much older than her and she was surprised at such talent for a young girl.

The blonde didn't reply. She stood, and moved over to the electric guitar propped up against a side wall and began to unplug it's wires. Rachel's brow dropped, surely she had heard her that time? The music which was now playing through the bars speakers wasn't that loud and she _was_ speaking in a raised volume.

Undeterred, Rachel followed her across the the platform and stood off to the side so the blonde could see her. "So, have you? Played the guitar for long that is." She clasped her hands in front of her stomach, leaning her weight against the wall and waited for a reply. The blonde continued to go about her business choosing not to hear her or even acknowledge the brunettes presence.

Rachel sighed, she was beginning to get slightly annoyed. She was only trying to be polite, there was nothing offensive or difficult about the question. It was simple enough to answer. "Excuse me, but I asked you a question." She stepped more forward, in the hopes that the girl would finally look at her and reply. But she didn't. Rachel watched as the girl hurriedly stuffed more wires into the front of a guitar case and shuffled away, her head bowed and her now unoccupied hands twisted the material of her vest top between her fingers in an anxious manner.

_Okay, this girl is just being plain **rude**_, Rachel thought frustratedly as she stomped after her. "Excuse _me,_" Rachel ground out more forcefully this time, "but won't you answer my question? I find it extremely rude that you're blatantly ignoring me when I am merely being polite."

"Hey!" Rachel turned at the sudden demanding voice to see Puck marching across the stage to the two girls. He stood in front of Rachel, one free arm wrapped around the blonde's waist who was still facing away from the brunette. "Back off." He told her bluntly, his eyes narrowing as he glared down at her.

"I beg your pardon," Rachel asked utterly confused. "Why? I was asking her a question and she is _ignoring_ me which is complete rudeness! I have done nothing of the sort to upset her if that is what you're thinking."

Puck remained glaring. "Talking in itself is upsetting her. She can't, okay? She can't talk so stop pressing."

Rachel was a little stunned. Of course, she didn't think of that. Her eyes flickered to the girl who still had her back turned and she had to admit, she felt a little embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry, of course I didn't know. Has she been deaf for...no, I'm sorry that is unacceptable of me to ask."

Puck frowned and gave her a her a look. "What? No, she's not deaf. Just, back off." He shot Rachel one last distasteful glare and guided the blonde off the stage.

Rachel stood alone on the platform with a furrowed brow as she stared blankly after their retreating forms. She processed what Puck had just told her and she found herself asking out loud "_What?"_ She couldn't figure how that made sense. If the girl wasn't deaf, then why didn't she speak? And Puck didn't need to be so rude about the whole situation. The thought crossed her mind that the blonde girl may have been his girlfriend so that would explain the possessive behaviour, still, he shouldn't have flirted with her earlier if that was the case. Her mind now occupied, Rachel made her way off the stage and once again squeezed and elbowed her way through the jostling crowd ready to call it night. She was left feeling oddly intrigued. Her motive now was to discover why the talented blonde was unable to talk, she wanted to know more. She liked mystery and this girl seemed to deliver.

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Reviews would be nice (:


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: If you would like to read the original prompt it's in the AU category (page 3, you'll know which one it is) at the rq_meme like I previously mentioned. I would post it here but it's far too long and I haven't got a clue how to post links :/_

_Thank you for all the reviews from the first chapter, I was very pleased with the response (:_

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Saturday morning, Rachel awoke fairly early. Her body had developed it's own built in clock due to her constant 6a.m starts in the week. It was annoying, especially when she desired a lie in on the weekends though like most things, she had become accustomed to it. She stretched her arms, curling her wrists and yawned lightly. Always one to keep routine, she hopped on her elliptical for a good hour before taking a shower and heading down stairs for breakfast.

She pushed open the kitchen door to see her dad, Leroy, sitting at the centre island on a stool sipping a cup of coffee. "Hi sweetie," he looked up at his daughter when he saw her approach. "Where did you go last night?"

Rachel finished pouring herself a cup of fresh coffee from the filter and made her way over to the refrigerator, "just out." She replied, her voice muffled from her head been buried inside the fridge.

"Hmmm. And where was "just out?"" Her dad asked, looking over his shoulder at Rachel who was stirring soya milk into her coffee.

"Does it really matter?" She really didn't want to answer his question honestly, knowing she would have to explain to him about the fake ID. Her dad would most certainly be disappointed in her and mildy angry for it being illegal and in case she had gotten herself into trouble.

"Yes. Me and your father were worried, a note reading "popped out" isn't very informative of your whereabouts. Now, where were you?" He met Rachel's eyes with a hard stare, he knew she was hiding something.

Rachel huffed in annoyance, she knew she had to tell him the truth. She was rubbish at lying anyway. "Fine. I visited a bar which was in the town over from Lima," she paused as her dads eyes widened.

He cut in before she could finish, "a bar in which you would have to be twenty-one to be allowed inside?" He raised his eyebrows, daring her to defy him.

Rachel bowed her head slightly, her index finger traced over a chip on the rim of her cup. "Yes," she muttered.

She heard her dad sigh and she looked up to see him rubbing his temple with the tips of his fingers. "Rachel, why would you do that? In fact, how did you even manage to do that?" He turned around fully in his chair to regard his daughter.

She really didn't want to explain herself, but there was no getting out of it now. "Dad, you won't get angry with me will you? Well, too angry." She added, she knew he would be to some degree.

"That depends on what you have to tell me." Leroy said, patting the stool next to him with his palm. Silently asking Rachel to take a seat beside him.

Rachel took the indicated seat and placed her coffee mug on top of the island surface and sighed. "I went to a bar where you are required to be of the age of twenty-one," she paused to gage her fathers reaction so far, it was expressionless. She opened her mouth to finish the next part of her explanation but stopped, she slowly closed her lips as to not appear suspicious that she was considering lying. Should she tell him about the fake ID? If she did he would demand it off her and destroy it, ending any more visits to the bar and effectively stopping her from seeing the mysterious blonde. It was far too soon to end her chances of finding out more about the talented girl.

Her dad held her eyes with a questioning stare as if to say _is that all?_ She tried not to swallow noticeably, though her fingers began to nervously fiddle with the hem of her top. She met his gaze in what she hoped was a convincingly confident stare, "and, I managed to get in without being asked for ID. I guess I looked old enough." She added a shrug to the end of her sentence, appearing unphased.

Her dad continued to hold her gaze, trying to suss her out though Rachel held his contact. She wasn't going to be intimidated into spilling the truth. She was too engrossed in discovering more about the talented guitarist, though she didn't know if lying to her father was worth it, yet.

Finally, her dad relaxed his posture and took a swig of his coffee. Rachel knew she had convinced him. "Okay, well. I don't need to tell you for you to know that you're not allowed to visit that bar again, do I?

She tried not to show her relief too much, so she took a sip of her own coffee to hide her growing smile. "No dad."

"Good girl. So, do you have anything planned for today, it is a Saturday?"

"Nothing," she stood from the the stall and pushed it neatly under the island. "I'm just going to finish up some class assignments I've been working on."

After a short conversation involving how her fathers night had gone, she grabbed an apple and a banana from the fruit bowl and she left the kitchen. She hurriedly made her way up the stairs to her bedroom, she didn't want to be confronted by her other father- Rachel knew he wouldn't be so light about the whole situation. She flopped down onto her bed and began to peal the banana skin, taking bites and chewing slowly she began to think about what her next plan of action was going to be.

She felt guilty. She had never really lied to her fathers, except for the occasional white lie which were harmless. They were big believers in honesty, so she tried to always be truthful with her parents. When she was six, she has stolen a jelly snake from the pick 'n' mix tray at the grocery store. After a few days of feeling ridden with guilt and the impression she was doomed for Hell, she caved and confessed to her dads in a fit of sobs. Neither were impressed but reassured her that it was okay and they forgave her, she was comforted by the fact that her daddy told her many children at some point had stolen sweets before, including himself. As she gradually became older though, she realised that some things were best left unshared.

She probably should have been honest with her dad, but she wanted to return the Vox bar and without an ID that would be impossible. Rachel specifically wanted to go tonight, though she knew she couldn't without thinking up an excuse which would enable her to leave the house at night, and that would likely raise suspicion so that left only one other option.

Rachel had never snuck out of her house before, she had never needed to. Considering the option was one thing but actually doing it was another. Besides, she didn't really see the point. Her dads didn't normally retire to bed much before 11p.m, she knew Puck and his band played at Vox every Thursday night to Sunday but their sets probably finished around 10p.m like the first time she was there and unless the band decided to hang around afterwards, she wasn't likely to see the blonde.

It was a frustrating situation. She knew the only time she was able to return to the bar would be on a Friday night when her fathers were guaranteed to be out. She would unfortunately just have to wait until then.

* * *

After another long week finally dragged to an end which Rachel swore was deliberate due to her impatience, Friday lazily rolled around once again. She sat on the edge of the sofa, her back bent over slightly as her fingers shook with anticipation as she fastened the last buckle of her heel to it's tightest notch. Rachel had hidden in her room as she had gotten herself ready in secret, making sure she was ready and set to go as soon as her parents had left. She didn't want to waste any time, she wanted to make the most out of this evening.

She climbed into another pre-booked taxi and waited with slight impatience for the car journey to arrive at it's destination. The cab driver explained he was unable to take her directly to the bar because the street it was situated in was too narrow for a car and, well he informed Rachel that the street wasn't an actual road.

So Rachel was forced, much to her annoyance, to make her own way to the bar. She paid the taxi driver and made her way down the small street at a quick pace. She soon reached the end of the path and saw that the large cobbled street at the other side was just as busy as before. The air around her was atmospheric and she couldn't help but grin at passers-by, people were ready to start their weekend and she was a part of that mix. She more or less bounced her way towards Vox, she was excited; she couldn't wait to get inside. Though she soon found that she would indeed, have to wait because there was a large queue of people lined up against the side of the bar, she sighed and made her way to the back of the line. She figured she had missed the queue last week because she was arrived a little later. Rachel raised herself onto her tip-toes to see over the various heads in front of her and saw that the bouncer at the entrance was the same man from before.

Soon enough (she was surprised that she didn't have to wait too long), she was handing over her ID to the bouncer who gave the card a quick glance and motioned for Rachel to enter. She had made sure that tonight she wasn't dressed in anything too revealing or anything that may draw attention to herself, so she had adorned a pair of dark denim jeans with heals and a loose cream top. As soon as she was inside, she glanced over at the stage which was empty. She checked the time on her phone and saw that it was 7:49p.m, Puck and his band probably started their set at 8p.m.

She squeezed her way through a small gathering of people so she could get to the bar and buy herself a drink. She ordered a Pepsi, she didn't really see the point in drinking alcohol- she had discovered she didn't like the taste and her aim wasn't to get drunk. She was half way through her drink when there was a few random whoops from people nearby as the small ceiling lights around her began to dim. Rachel smiled as she turned from leaning against the bar and watched as Puck was greeted with loud cheers as he jogged onto the stage.

"How's everyone doing tonight?" He asked as he fumbled with untangling the microphone wires from around it's stand. He was enthusiastically answered as Rachel decided to move closer towards the stage. She managed to find a small clearing where it wasn't so crowded, she still had a pretty clear view of the platform here too.

"That's what I like to hear. So, if you would all please give my band a very warm welcome this evening, we can get this show on the road!" He grinned as he held out a wide arm, inviting his band members to join him. Rachel stretched her neck so she could see them appear on the stage, she didn't know why she wasn't surprised to find that the blonde was the last to shuffle on. The two other members waved at the crowd while the blonde girl immediately reached for her guitar and started to tune it. She was playing the electric today.

"Awesome. Right guys, we have a medley of songs for you tonight," there was a collective laugh from the audience. "Yeah, I know. The usual," Puck chuckled along with them.

Rachel shifted her gaze from Puck as he continued his banter with the crowd to the blonde. She stood neatly in the corner. The right side of her body was left in the shadows since she was standing so far back into the stage. Her posture was composed though her back appeared to be too stiff and her legs too straight, the stance looked uncomfortable. Golden hair hung loosely around her drooped head effectively shielding her face from Rachel's inquisitive eyes. The blonde's left hand held the neck of the guitar with a firm grip. Her right cupped the body gently as the instrument lay positioned across her torso, ready and waiting to be brought to life.

Forty-five minutes later, Rachel was shocked. She had officially decided that this girl was a guitar goddess, she had never seen anything like it before. Sure, a few members from her Glee club could play guitar but nothing compared to this. The skill she possessed and the level that she played at was way beyond her years. She was special, and Rachel knew that she was probably the only one who had realised this with maybe the exception of Puck too.

Again, throughout their performance, the blonde remained voluntarily uninvolved. She took herself off further into the far corner of the stage and simply played. It was like watching a show within a show, though Rachel felt like she was intruding just by watching, or suitably better, gawking at the girl. She seemed so lost in her music. Rachel and the rest of the bar were just mere on lookers, their presence alone interrupted and tarnished the private moment between the blonde and her precious guitar.

She desperately wanted to meet the girl again but decided to leave her be during the bands break, she probably needed some fresh air and a cold drink. After a short ten minutes, they returned to the stage and the blonde continued to wow Rachel for a further half an hour before their set finished at nine thirty. She enthusiastically clapped and cheered along with the crowd, her applause going out to the blonde while she pushed her way through a wall of sweaty bodies.

She slumped against the bar surface for a minute, she was hot and uncomfortable. She hadn't realised just how involved she had gotten in the nights performance, she could definitely see now why they were so popular. "Can I get a vodka coke, please?" She leaned over the wooden surface as she asked the bar girl who was waiting to take her order.

She slid over a few dollars and picked up the drink, making her way back over towards the stage. All the band member were still there, they were in the middle of packing away their equipment when Rachel cautiously approached Puck.

"Hey. Well done for tonight, you guys were amazing," she smiled shyly up at him and offered him his preferred choice of drink

"You again," he addressed her though it wasn't said maliciously. "With vodka?" He glanced down at the glass in her hand and she nodded as he took the offered drink. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Look, I just wanted to apologise for last week. I'm sorry if I caused any upset to you or the girl, that was never my intention. She is just incredible," Rachel stated as she glanced across the platform at the blonde, "I have never come across talent like hers before, where did she learn to play like that?" She queried, her gaze still fixed on the blonde.

Puck followed her line of sight, and as if the girl could sense she was being watched she looked up from packing away her guitar. Her eyes met Puck's for a brief moment and for the tiniest second, they flickered to Rachel's. The brunette didn't even have time to register the look before the girl had snapped her focus away from the pair. But Rachel did register something. This girl wasn't only talented; she was beautiful.

"Listen, is there anything else?" Rachel's thoughts began to dissipate as the firm voice broke through her clouded mind.

"I'm sorry what?" She asked absently as she slowly drew her attention away from the back of the blonde's head.

Puck sighed, rolling his eyes. "I _said_ that she taught herself and if there was anything else?" He stated, clearly annoyed.

Rachel shook her head in more of clearing her foggy mind than answering his question. She felt strange, distant. She didn't normally zone out, it was a poor excuse for someone's lack of ability to concentrate. She always gave her full attention in any given social situation.

"No no, no I'm fine. I mean, no there isn't anything else. She is just... beau- um, incredible." She replayed her reply in her mind and God, when did she become unable to formulate a decent answer?

"Right. Well, thanks for coming tonight, I'm glad you enjoyed our set." Puck gave her a half smile that seemed forced and strolled off to help his band pack the rest of their stuff away.

She nervously fiddled with the hem of her top, debating whether she should approach the blonde. After the last time she felt sort of weary, given Puck's reaction. That's why she spoke to him first and bought him a drink, she supposed it was kind of a peace offering. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth, her eyes shifted to Puck and saw he was in the middle of helping the drummer pack away his equipment. She made her choice quickly, and scurried over to the girl who was unplugging wires from an amplifier.

She stood deliberately in the blonde's line of sight so she could definitely see her. The girls top eye lids flickered to Rachel's shoes but she chose not to look up from her tidying. "I just wanted to apologise, for last week. I never meant to offend you, and if I have done so then I am sorry," she paused and waited in the hopes that the blonde would acknowledge her presence, but she didn't.

"Well, that was all I wanted to say. Of course, you're a fantastic guitarist but I'm sure you hear that a lot." She nervously chuckled but was met with more silence. The blonde stood then, and navigated her way around Rachel, keeping her head bowed as she walked.

Rachel took a few short steps after the girl but thought better of perusing her in case she drew Puck's attention to them. She really didn't fancy another confrontation. "My name is Rachel, by the way." She sighed a loud. The girls steps didn't falter, though she would of heard. Rachel let her arms hang limply by her sides feeling deflated.

She checked her phone again for the time and found it was 9:52p.m. It was time to head home, there was no point in hanging around any longer since Puck and his band had finished for tonight. Besides, she needed to be home before her fathers returned from their date night. The taxi ride back would be at least half an hour.

She made her way off the platform and through the crowd, stopping at the bars entrance one last time to regard the stage. A few of the members were still up there talking amongst themselves now that they had finished packing away their equipment. Rachel noticed Puck was gone and so was the blonde girl.

She haled a cab down when she arrived at the end of the narrow street and gave the guy the directions to her house. She made it home before her dads with time to spare, they would be none the wiser to where their daughter had spent the night. Rachel removed her make-up and ditched the tight jeans and top for her comfy pyjamas before snuggling down into her double bed. She lay awake until she heard her parents arrive home safely and then tried to drift of to sleep.

Though of course, her mind was too pre-occupied to allow sleep to come and claim her. She lay with her hands clasped behind her head as she stared blankly up at the ceiling. Her ears were still accustomed to the noise at the Vox bar and they rang loudly as they became adjusted to the silence around her. Rachel just wanted to know more. That was all she wanted. But she had nothing to go on _to_ find out more. She could probably ask Puck but she wasn't sure if he would disclose the information to a girl he didn't know, especially with how protective he seemed to be over the blonde.

Even if Rachel hadn't necessarily found out any new information, she was glad of one thing tonight. She had managed to finally catch a glimpse of the girls face. She couldn't help but feel slightly jealous- the blonde was not only insanely talented, she also had looks which any girl in their right mind would die for. She must be Puck's girlfriend.

She rolled over and faced her bedside table, her alarm clock read 11:16p.m. Rachel wondered if any of the other band members knew, they probably did. She hadn't seen any of them interact with the blonde, the only one who seemed to be allowed was Puck. He may be the only one because no one else bothered. She could understand why people would get fed up of the girl and loose patience, she was very trying but if you didn't try then you would never succeed.

And maybe that was what she needed. For someone to try.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Sorry for the slight delay in posting, I've had this chapter written up for a week but because my internet was being a total bitch I couldn't post it._

_Enjoy (:_

_

* * *

_"Where are my keys?" Rachel whined to herself as she bounced on the balls of her feet. She was standing on the edge of her driveway as she rummaged through the contents of her bag, she knew she had them she was just unable to find the damn things. It was 10:45p.m on a chilly Friday night. The weather was vastly changing day by day as the Winter season loomed unforgivably over Autumn. She should of dressed more accordingly, though her materialistic side ruled out her side for practicality. She rubbed her bare arms in an attempt to rid herself of the goosebumps popping up over her skin but it was useless.

"Aha!" She exclaimed as she pulled out a bundle of keys attached to a ring. She made her way up her drive to the front door, noticing her parents car was still missing. She had been pushing her luck tonight. Rachel knew she should have left the Vox bar at 10p.m, though she was enjoying herself so much she had lost track of time. She managed to flag down a taxi at twenty past, telling the guy to step on it so she could make it back to Lima before her dads arrived home from their date night.

It was the seventh time tonight that Rachel had visited the bar. Every time was better than the last Rachel had decided. Puck and his band never failed to please her and their audience, and the blonde _never_ failed to amaze Rachel with her skill. It was the seventh time that she had tried to speak with the guitarist but of course, she was always unsuccessful. Her patience with the girl never wore thin, she knew if she was ever going to get anywhere it would take time. Rachel was never one to pass up a challenge. Though every Friday night she went, the brunette knew she was wearing someone else's patience thin.

Puck was not happy with the whole situation. Rachel could tell. The guy wore an expression that could only be classed as "pissed off" every time he saw her enter the bar. He never intervened like that one time from before but she knew that each time Puck saw her within talking range of the girl, he was becoming closer to snapping. There was never any need for him to get involved though, she would always get silently rejected by the blonde within seconds of approaching her.

Rachel slotted her key into the key hole with a trembling hand, her breaths swirled around her in a gush of white in the cold night air. She pushed open the front door and hurriedly stepped inside the warm hallway and locked up. She turned around then, and saw the kitchen lights glowing through the glass panels set within the wooden door. Rachel frowned, surely she had switched the light off before she had left for the evening? Cursing herself for forgetting, she kicked off her ankle boots and made her way to the kitchen to flip the lights off before she went to bed.

A hot blush flushed the length of her neck and settled in her cheeks, her stomach became suddenly uneasy and a lump the size of a golf ball formed in her throat. "Dad? Daddy?" She barely croaked out over the uncomfortable lump.

Both of Rachel's fathers sat at the kitchen island wearing unreadable expressions. Her dad had a cup of tea clasped between his hands as he stared at his daughter while her daddy, Hiram, gestured for her to come and take a seat opposite them. She pushed the kitchen door to a close and walked with shaking knees over to them both. Her mind ran a constant loop of _shit, shit, shit, shit_ as she pulled her stool out from under the counter top.

"Where have you been?" Hiram asked calmly once she was seated. His relaxed tone was unnerving, this was how her daddy worked. He would never show his anger directly and she found this often left you not knowing where you stood with him.

There was absolutely no point in lying. They knew where she had been, he was just testing her to see if she would indeed lie to them. She knew she couldn't get away with it anyway due to the nervous state she was in so she replied, "out."

He nodded in agreement. "At this bar?"

"Yes."

The three of them sat in silence for a minute or two. Her eyes flickered to those of her dads and then returned to her daddy's. She couldn't understand how they had made it home before her, their car wasn't even parked on the drive. Besides, she had hurried home in time even though she had pushed it slightly.

She swallowed, soothing her dry throat. "W-where is the car?" She asked curiously.

Hiram answered right away as if expecting the question to be asked, "in the garage."

Leroy shifted in his seat and glanced over at his husband. He was never too harsh on his daughter if she ever did anything wrong. He wasn't a fan of confrontation and tried to keep the peace as much as possible within their household. Rachel was always his "daddy's" girl. He spoilt her when she was a child and it was always their secret to keep from her daddy. Hiram was always the stricter parent, he wasn't so light hearted.

"Our intention was to dine out like usual, but your father and I didn't quite fancy it tonight so along the way to the restaurant, we decided to just come home and order a Chinese instead. When we got back you weren't here. We thought you had just nipped out for a walk or a run so we waited for you to get back to see if you wanted take out too but obviously, you didn't come back." Leroy spoke up, explaining his and his husbands part before Hiram could drag the situation out any longer.

Rachel sat in silence while she took in her dads speech. They must have been so worried when she didn't return after half an hour or so. But then her dad must have realised where she had gone and informed her daddy. All the time she had been at Vox, they had been waiting for her to return knowing she had disobeyed them.

"Why, Rachel? You promised me that you wouldn't go there again. Places like that aren't safe, you're seventeen!" Her dad expressed, leaning forward in his seat as he stared into his daughters eyes.

Rachel stopped herself mid eye roll when she received a warning glare from her daddy. "Dad, I know I'm seventeen. I'll be eighteen next month, I'm not a little girl anymore!" She expressed.

"I know that. _We_ both know that," Leroy gestured between him and his husband, "but the point is that you lied to us. You went against what I asked you not to do, why?" He questioned once again.

Rachel slumped in her stool and bowed her head, her nails automatically began to pick at her cuticles. She didn't know what her parents would make of the reason, it seemed invalid once she thought about it. Why should she care about some girl who chose not to speak to her? It wasn't her problem to interfere with, Puck made it quite clear he didn't want her involvement. Though she was so intrigued, and she couldn't let it go. The way this girl made her feel was unexpected yet welcomed all at once. Rachel didn't know exactly what it was that she felt, yet it was brilliant and it made her body sing. She was an enigma who captivated her with a freakish talent for playing the humble guitar. How could she not feel something?

"I just- I have to go, Dad." She muttered, her head still drooped as her mind raced with this knew knowledge that she couldn't place.

Hiram cleared his throat bringing his daughters attention to him. "You will not be visiting this bar again. I am not asking you, I am telling you. And that is final." Her daddy met her gaze with a hard stare, his lips set in a thin line as he glared over the rim of his glasses.

Rachel stared wide eyed at her daddy. She didn't no why she was surprised, she knew this was coming. She supposed that now her concerns were voiced, it hit her that it was real and her daddy was deadly serious about banning her from visiting Vox again. Her eyes darted to her dad's who nodded at her when she caught his eye.

"You don't understand, it's important that I go there! I _need_ to go there," she pleaded. The lump which had disappeared had risen again in her throat. She knew it was childish begging and she felt stupid for wanting to cry but the prospect of this been taken away from her was almost too much. She could feel an extra layer of moisture form over the surface of her eyes, "please. You have to let me, I can't give up now."

"What would you be giving up?" Leroy queried curiously, his expression softening when he noticed his daughter becoming upset.

Rachel didn't know why she didn't tell her dad about the blonde guitarist. She decided it would make the situation worse and more complicated- she didn't want her fathers thinking she was becoming involved with random strangers, she knew how they would feel about that and It would do no justice to benefit her. Instead, she nibbled her bottom lip between a row of neat front teeth and shook her head.

Her daddy sighed, "exactly what I thought. Leroy, there is no reason. She is just being disobedient for the sake of being a teenager." He turned to Rachel and extended a hand, "give me the ID you have been using."

Rachel really wasn't expecting that. Her eyes widened that little bit more and she felt her jaw drop slightly. She swallowed noticeably, how did he know?

As if reading her mind, her daddy began to speak. "Your father told me you were being aloud to enter by sheer luck, but I know how these clubs and bars work. They're very strict with rules nowadays and they wouldn't have let you inside without proof of age. You may look old enough," he paused as his eyes ran disapprovingly over her attire, "but they will still ask for identification."

Before she could formulate a reply, her dad spoke up. "Rachel, you have a fake ID? You told me- you know what? It doesn't matter. Give your father the ID card, now." Leroy demanded, his softened expression from before hardened again and he looked genuinely angry.

She always hated seeing her dad upset, and knowing she was the cause of the upset hurt. They were so close, closer than she was with her daddy. Of course she loved them both equally, but her and her dad would always seem to bond better. She tore her gaze away from his disappointed eyes and sifted through the contents of her bag. She pulled out her purse and removed the plastic card from it's confines.

She held the laminated card in her hand, she could feel her bottom lip trembling slightly as she took one last look at her ID. She knew it was ridiculous feeling emotional over this, but that was her ticket to seeing the blonde. An image of the guitarists face flashed across her mind as she slid the card over the counter top to her daddy, she couldn't help but harshly rub at the few ushered tears with the back of her wrist.

"Thank you-" he paused as his eyes skimmed across the information on the card, "Jennifer." He finished with a scoff.

Hiram received a warning glare from his husband as he stood up and crossed the kitchen to a set of drawers. He fished out a pair of scissors and popping open the steel bin with his foot, he stood over the opened lid and sliced the ID in half. The bin lid snapped shut with finality as he turned back to his husband and daughter. "Go to bed Rachel, It's late." He said sternly.

The stool scraped against the tiles as she pushed her seat back, the harsh noise echoing around the kitchen and it's occupants in the silence. She avoided her parents watching eyes as she grabbed up her bag and pulled the wooden door open, slamming it behind her in anger. Rachel stormed up the stairs and flung herself onto her bed before she made sure to sufficiently slam her bedroom door too.

She lay on her stomach with her face buried into her squishy pillow, her hands were bunched into fists beneath an assortment of decorative cushions. She didn't feel as upset now that she was out of her fathers presence, though she was currently overcome now with a feeling of anger. She couldn't rid her mind of the smug look her daddy wore as he relished in the moment when he cut the ID. She could imagine her dad giving him a talk right this minute in the kitchen, she knew he wouldn't be happy with her daddy deliberately destroying the ID in front of her. Although he was disappointed in her, he would of taken her feelings into consideration.

The tightness of her skirt restricted her from movement as she tried to roll onto her side and get comfortable so she heaved herself off of the mattress. She reached around her back and tugged the zipper down, stepping out of the skirt and kicking it aside. Rachel was never careless with any of her items but tonight she really couldn't be bothered to take the time to put everything away in it's correct place. She flung her tank top over the back of her desk chair and crawled back into her large bed. Her anger still bubbled steadily within her, she still felt a generous amount of ire towards her daddy. He was controlling and at the present moment she absolutely loathed him, but he was her daddy and he loved her- he was only doing what any normal caring parent would do to protect their daughter. And although she could reason this, Rachel would not allow him to take this chance away from her.

* * *

Saturday Rachel spent in her room. She only emerged when she needed food, drinks and the bathroom. Her dad had come to check on her a few times, to see if she was okay mostly. She was, and she knew it was petty to be this annoyed over an ID but they didn't understand what that little plastic card led to. Her daddy had tried to start up a conversation with his daughter whilst she was making herself a cup of coffee earlier in the morning, but she ignored him.

Rachel lay splayed out over her bed while catching up on reading a few biology notes from class. Her attention was caught by the turning over of red digital numbers on her alarm clock positioned on top of her bedside table. She read 19:17p.m as she dropped her notes down onto her duvet. Rachel knew what she was doing when she strolled over to her wardrobe and picked herself a peach coloured form fitting top and a tight black skirt. She plopped down in a seat at her vanity and touched up her make-up after she had pulled on her outfit.

Rachel knew what she was doing. She was calm and relaxed as she made her way down the carpeted stair case. She sat on the bottom step and slipped on a pair of black ankle boots before making her way to the kitchen. Her dad was sat at the island reading a newspaper while her daddy was busy cooking at the stove, she pushed the door ajar and poked her head around the frame.

"I'm going out," she announced. Leroy glanced up from his paper at her sudden voice while Hiram continued stirring a sauce into a saucepan.

"Really? Well, I wouldn't be so sure about that. Go up to your room or come in here and help cook dinner." Her daddy said flatly, his focus remained glued to the stove.

She narrowed her eyes at her daddy's turned back and faced her dad when she next spoke. "I'm going out," she repeated. Hiram heaved a sigh and decided then to turn, he placed the wooden spoon on the counter top but before he could argue, Rachel added, "to Finn's. He has invited me to his house for dinner this evening. I am assuming he would like to talk about our recently failed relationship, and most probably attempt to re-piece our delicate friendship."

Her daddy eyed her for a few seconds with pursed lips. Her dad looked between his husband and daughter and swiftly stepped in, "right. Well, how do we know we can trust you Rachel?" Hiram nodded in agreement.

"Dad, I have no ID anymore, remember?" She glanced at her daddy when she said this, "it would be impossible for me to be allowed entrance without one." Her dad thought this over slowly before swivelling his head to face Hiram. The shared a silent conversation before her daddy gave a stiff nod and looked up at Rachel.

"You're seventeen, Rachel. Me and your dad know we can't control how you live your life and we don't want to but yesterday, you have to realise that you had us worried- scared even. What If something had of happened to you, hm? Look, we will allow you to visit Finn's tonight but we expect you back here no later than-" he paused and glanced over at his husband, "what to you think Leroy?"

Her dad hummed for a moment, "ten thirty. No later, yes?"

Rachel beamed and nodded gratefully. "Good, well we'll see you later. Oh, and Rachel?" She popped her head back around the door, "yes dad?"

"Try not to let Finn woo his way back into your good books with the clichés. You know how me and your father feel about him." Leroy said with a knowing look.

Rachel let out a small laugh, "okay dad." She said her goodbyes and closed the kitchen door behind her. As soon as she was out of the house she allowed the guilt to wash over her. Of course Rachel wasn't going to see Finn, that was an obvious excuse. She was surprised with how easily they bought the lie, she would of thought her daddy especially would of questioned her more or asked for evidence.

Finn and herself had dated for a few months over the summer and into their Senior year, but after a couple of weeks into the new term, things just weren't working out. She decided they worked better as friends though Finn wasn't happy with her decision and their relationship ever since then had been patchy at best. Her fathers never liked him a great deal, they continuously claimed she was too good for him and to be frank, she thought so also. She just hoped tonight they wouldn't check up on her or call the Hudson household to see if she was where she had claimed to be going.

She found herself a taxi further into the heart of Lima which took her to the town with the Vox bar. She arrived outside the bar at just after eight. The distinctive sounds of Puck and his band blared through the brick walls as she strolled towards the bouncer, her hips swaying confidently.

"Hey Keith," she said brightly. She had come to learn the bouncers name since she had been to the bar quite a few times by now. He actually wasn't as scary as he appeared and was in fact a big softy who had taken a shine to Rachel, well Jennifer as the ID once read.

"Jenny, back so soon huh?" He chuckled, "you know the drill." Keith gave her a wide smile as he held a large hand out.

Rachel swept the few bangs which had fallen into her eyes to the side as she gazed up at him through her long, dark lashes. "It was very careless of me, but I misplaced my ID last night. I was unable to find it in time for this evening," on cue, her lips formed into their signature pout which she knew people found hard to resist.

Keith tutted, "Jenny, Jenny, Jenny. What are we to do, hm?" He sighed playfully.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry Keith, but you know I'm twenty-one. You could just...let me in?" She asked hopefully, fluttering her eye lashes for the extra effect.

He feigned the action of being deep in thought as he stroked his chin with his stumpy index finger and thumb. "Well, I suppose I could..."

Her pout deepened.

Keith laughed throatily,"okay. Go ahead Jenny. Have a good evening."

Rachel squealed and gave his thick bicep a quick squeeze, "thank you Keith!"

The bouncer stepped aside and chuckled as she bounced through the double doors. She inhaled the deep smoky air which she had become to love as she made her way straight to the drinks bar. Puck was in the middle of smoothly singing_ She's Electric _by Oasis- he clutched the microphone between both hands as he swayed on the spot in a cool manner, grinning at his audience. She leaned over the bar counter and ordered herself a bottle of Smirnoff.

"_She's got a brother_

_We don't get on with one another_

_But I quite fancy her mother_

_And I think that she likes me..."_

Rachel moved away from the bar to a spot at the far side where she could get a better view of the stage. She smiled around the bottle neck as she raised the tip to her lips and took a long drink of the cold, refreshing liquid. There in her presumed element stood the blonde, strumming away at her acoustic.

"_And I want you to know_

_I've got my mind made up now_

_But I need more time_

_And I want you to say_

_Do you know what I'm saying?..."_

Her teeth clinked around the bottle top as she continued to grin. She found it strange that her feeling of guilt towards her fathers completely disappeared as she stood and soaked in the performance. At this moment Rachel decided that yes, the blonde was definitely worth lying to her parents.

She watched Puck belt out a few more Oasis classics and as he was finishing up _The Shock Of The Lightning _his gaze became fixed to the back of the room over the sea of bobbing heads. His eyes met Rachel's and his expression immediately darkened. She tore her eyes away from his, feeling uneasy and manoeuvred her way through a gathering of people back to the bar. She waited awhile for her order to be taken, the music ended and the load hum of many voices took over. Rachel had just asked for another Smirnoff when she felt a close presence behind her.

She pulled her shoulders back and took a swig of her drink before turning around to face Puck. He had brought himself up to his full height as he glowered down at her. "You need to leave." His tone was intimidating and cold.

"_I _don't have to do anything," she pointed to herself for emphasis. She had known this moment would be coming. All the times she had come to Vox and every time she had received a glare or discouraging remark from Puck- it had all been building to a head.

"I will not ask again. Leave." He stepped more forward, entering her personal space.

She didn't retreat backwards despite feeling threatened and held her ground. "You can't make me. This is not your bar and you have no say in what I do." She went to turn around and grab her bottle from the bar surface for a bit of liquid courage when a firm pressure encased her wrist.

Rachel glanced down at the strong, tan hand clasped around her small wrist. Puck's grip was tight and uncomfortable but she made no move to try and retract her hand. "She will not talk to you. Stop trying because it will _never_ happen. _Leave._ I don't want to see you here again." His eye flashed dangerously while he spoke.

She clenched her teeth causing her jaw to jut out as she held his strong stare. His grip tightened with each passing second until she winced slightly with the added pressure. "Hey!"

Her head whipped to the side as did Puck's where she saw a man who looked to be in his mid thirties standing beside them. "Get your hands off of her, man." He was taller than Puck which gave him that added difference as he glared down at him.

Puck nostrils flared, his eyes narrowed at the guy who had suddenly appeared. Slowly, he retracted his hand and stepped out of Rachel's personal space. She rubbed her sore wrist and turned it over just to see if there was any damage- she was glad to see everything looked as it should.

Puck took one last look at Rachel which seemed almost apologetic as his eyes shifted to the wrist still clutched in her left hand. He swiftly turned and shoved his way through the crowd, choosing not to speak to the man now leaning against the bar next to Rachel.

"You okay?" The man asked, she thought she detected a slight amount of concern in his voice.

She nodded and looked up at him properly for the first time. He had shortish, messy hair and unkempt stubble, the plain white t-shirt he was wearing had a few beer stains splattered across it and as he spoke, Rachel caught a definite whiff of strong alcohol on his breath.

"Alright. Well, let me buy you a drink. You look like you could need one." Rachel took an immediate dislike to his voice. It had a southern drawl to it and as he spoke, the added slur due to alcohol made it thicker and most unappealing.

His top lip curled up into a sort of smile as he handed her a glass with a golden looking beverage inside. She accepted it and took a long drink. It was a strong spirit and the taste made Rachel shudder, but she took another generous sip and thanked the man. He watched her as she drank, his lips morphed into a half smile while he swigged from a bottle of beer he had ordered for himself.

Rachel let her eyes wonder from her new company and found they had drifted towards the stage. It was empty. Her stomach sank knowing she wouldn't be able to see or attempt to speak to the blonde tonight, Puck protectionism would be in full force after their small confrontation.

She was upset. She kind of liked Puck even though he was a bit extreme with protecting the blonde but tonight, she wasn't sure what she thought of him anymore. She didn't expect his demand for her to leave to get so forceful. Although he had been _very_ clear with what he wanted, she wasn't going to listen.

So she turned her head back to the bar with the knowledge that tonight she wouldn't be able to approach the blonde guitarist. Her brow furrowed when a thought crept upon her. She wasn't sure if she actually wanted to see the girl for the sake of trying to get her to speak or just because she wanted to simply see her. She ran a hand through her loose hair and sighed.

"Let me get you another," the voice next to her spoke up. She glanced down at the glass in her hand and found it was empty. She didn't remember even finishing off the drink, especially since she didn't like the taste.

Her head felt thick and her mind cloudy. All of a sudden an assortment of emotions had overcome her and she felt bewildered by them. She gladly accepted the next drink and downed nearly the whole glass with a single swig. Everything had gone wrong. Her usual plan for tonight had been disrupted by Puck and she was worried and slightly scared in case the singer noticed she was still here. She had also profusely lied to her parents which didn't help matters. That feeling of guilt began to rear it's ugly head but she quickly snatched up her half empty bottle of Smirnoff from before and downed it in an attempt at keeping the emotion at bay. Rachel didn't think this night could possibly get any worse.

Oh how she was wrong.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Apologies for the delay, my job and Uni is slowly killing me and relationship problems aren't helping matters. Anyway, things should start to pick up from here and I hope this chapter was worth the wait even if it is kind of short. By the way, it picks up straight from where the last chapter left off, with about half an hour time difference._

_Just a heads up too, you may have to wait a while (hopefully not too long) for the next update. I have a lot of studying to do for some exams that I've been putting on hold because, well who wants to study?_

_Thank you all for the reviews, I do appreciate them (:_

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Her head rolled backwards causing a tense strain to spread down her taught neck, dark tendrils of hair spilled down the length of her upper back, tickling her bare shoulder blades. Her eyes were loosely closed, her top lids occasionally flickered under the pulsing spot lights as they glared through the thin layer of skin. Full, dry lips were parted as an irritated groan slipped from an equally dry throat, her temples was beginning to ache.

Rachel's head lolled forward heavily into her waiting hands. Her elbows dug uncomfortably into the rough, wooden bar counter from the pressure of keeping her head supported. Lazy fingers threaded through her thick hair, her trimmed nails scratched and massaged her scalp in a soothing manner. Rachel's knees were bent and torso hunched, she was finding it difficult keeping herself upright.

Of course, Rachel has never been drunk before. Sure, she has had alcohol on numerous occasions but never enough to intoxicate her. She has never seen the appeal. Kids from school would often boast to their friends just how ''hammered'' they had gotten over the weekend in class. She could never understand why someone would willingly want to loose control over their bodies and loose the ability to form a coherent sentence. It wasn't attractive and it certainly wasn't ''big'' in her books.

The live music pounded through her head relentlessly. The low, deep bass throbbed behind her eye sockets and her calves vibrated with the force of the electric guitar. She raised her head which felt like a tonne when a calloused hand placed itself at the small of her back.

Rachel's bleary eyes met those of the man's who had stayed uninvited by her side since her dispute with Puck. He hadn't spoken much since Puck had stormed off to return to the stage for the bands second half. She appreciated his interference but now, she kind of wanted to be left alone.

"You wanna dance?" He had lent in close, his hot alcoholic breath stained with the stench of cheap beer washed over her face.

Rachel angled her face to the side as she cringed at the smell and shook her head no. Her eye caught the still active stage, her focus became settled and she grimaced at Puck's prancing form. She wanted him to shut up- she was sick of hearing his whiny voice drill through her already sensitive ears. In fact, she wanted the entire band to stop. The drum beat began to sound repetitive, the bass made her eyes hurt and the electric guitar currently being hammered within an inch of it's life made her plain angry.

"Another drink then," It wasn't a question. This was what the guy had also been doing a lot of since he had occupied the space next to Rachel. He never waited for her to protest, he would just buy her another glass filled to the brim of the golden liquor. Her taste buds had become accustomed to the taste, though she still would consider it polite for him to ask what she would like instead.

She lifted the glass to her parched lips and sipped. And then swigged and then gulped- she was so thirsty. Rachel supposed this was the affects of spirits and the hot stuffy air within the bar didn't help matters. She dabbed her fingertips against her lips collecting the excess liquid that had gathered there.

The now empty glass was placed on top of the bar surface and she signalled for a bar tender to come and serve her. The bar girl raised her eyebrows in askance and Rachel was in the middle of requesting a pint of water when the voice next to her interrupted.

"...another Southern Comfort," The guy clasped a strong hand over her own and squeezed ever so slightly. The bar girl regarded him for a second before confirming with lemonade and he nodded.

The girl slid the drink over which the man picked up, handing it over to Rachel. His lips were curled into that not really there smile which she found was quite clearly forced. She nodded at him in thanks and sipped at the drink- she was too thirsty to pass up on something that could temporarily quench her dry throat.

"So, are you gonna tell me your name?" The guy asked, leaning the length of his forearm against the bar counter.

"You could tell me yours," she retorted.

The guy nodded, running a loose hand through his greasy hair and then shrugged. "Suit yourself. I was just asking since I am buying you drinks." He all but grumbled.

"I didn't ask you to," she eyed the side of his profile since he had turned to face the front of the bar. He looked irritated as he swigged from his near empty bottle of beer, she sighed. "Thank you, though."

He grunted in response and she fought the urge to tut. She took another swig of the drink and grimaced- she really couldn't stomach anymore. Her head was insistently becoming foggy and light with every sip of the liquor, she had had enough. Rachel pushed the still fairly full glass to the side and cleared her throat.

"I appreciate your gratitude and your interference from before but I must go. Um, thank you," She nodded to herself, her eyes cast blearily over the figure before her.

The guy seemed to perk up at the mention of her leaving and turned quickly to regard Rachel- the movement made her feel nauseous. "You can't leave yet. The night is just starting!" His grin revealed a row of yellow stained teeth.

"No, I can't stay, I have-" The guy cut her off.

"Is this because of that jerk from earlier? Because I told him and he won't bother you. C'mon, let's have a dance. He won't be back," The man edged forward and wrapped a unwelcome hand around the curve of her waist, pulling her body into his.

Her hands automatically reached up and placed themselves flat against his chest, keeping a distance so their bodies didn't connect. "No. I really must leave. I have to get home."

His face lit up and he quirked an eyebrow, his lips taking on a smirk. "I like forwardness."

Rachel stared questioningly up at him, her mouth forming a slight 'O'. The guy's smirk deepened, his rough hand sliding further down her waist, following the curve until it reached the swell of her ass.

"Don't act so innocent," he cooed, lowering his head so his lips were level with her ear. "I'd much rather go back to yours," his voice blew across the shell of her ear, swirling a few strands of her hair.

Rachel remained still as her slacking mind caught up with his words, when she had processed what he had said she snorted and shook her head. "That wasn't an invite for you to join me. I have to go."

She pushed away from him and lightly slapped his hand away from her waist as she turned to leave. She was in the middle of maneuvering herself through a large crowd of people when an arm wrapped around her middle and pulled her backwards. She squeaked with surprise, the arm twisting her around to face the dishevelled man.

"Don't go, we were having fun," he all but slurred, "another drink, yeah?" His tone brightened at the end of the sentence as he wrapped his large hand around Rachel's wrist, ready to lead her back towards the bar.

Rachel let him drag her a few yards until her mind played catch up again. She tugged at his own wrist in an attempt to free hers from his grip. "No, I need to go," she irritably said.

If the guy heard, he didn't listen.

Her foot tripped over a loose floorboard and she stumbled forward into the guys back, the fall gave her the right amount of leverage to pull her wrist from his firm hand. "I said I need to go," she hotly protested as she yanked her wrist free.

The man's brow furrowed as he checked over his large hand and narrowed his eyes at Rachel. "You cut me," he accused bluntly.

She stared at him incredulously. "Look!" He held up his ring finger directly in her line of sight, in the hopes of proving his accusations. Though due to the dim light of the bar and the smoky air, Rachel couldn't see this supposed 'cut.'

"Really? Well, I'm sorry if I accidentally scratched you with a nail but you wouldn't release me from your hold. Your actions were most inappropriate and now, childish," She said derisively.

Rachel rolled her eyes at the picture of the intoxicated man in front of, inspecting and nursing his finger- he clearly wasn't interested in listening to her. She sighed and turned for what felt like the hundredth time to leave the bar, hoping this time she would be successful.

Though of course, she shouldn't of spoke, or more so thought so soon. "Wait! No, don't leave," he dragged the word out as he caught hold of her shoulder and spun her round. Rachel was now only one thing- pissed off.

"You can buy me a drink to make up for cutting me," the way he said it made Rachel sound like she had unleashed a ten inch knife on him and had sliced his finger clean off. "Come on, what d'you say?"

She gritted her teeth. "I say you get your hands off of me and leave. Me. The fuck. Alone," Rachel snarled, forcefully slapping his hand away that was clutched around her shoulder.

He appeared surprised for a moment at her demand but then recovered swiftly. His lips curled into a sneer as he stared down at her small, defiant form. "Ungrateful dumb bitch," he spat.

Her jaw clenched as she took two slow steps forward and entered his personal space. Her eyebrows were brought together as she glowered at the man in front of her. "Fuck you," she spoke with distaste, her voice low.

Rachel was indeed surprised with herself for using such foul language for her standards, but this situation caused her to verbally lash out. She supposed her actions were also caused by the ample amount of alcohol pumping through her.

The man stared her down for half a minute or so before grunting his annoyance and shoved his way through a crowd of people. She sighed with relief as she watched his head bob above the gathering of patrons before disappearing out of sight, she ran a hand through her loose hair and turned, again, to finally leave.

Rachel checked her phone for the time, it was only 9:37p.m, she was okay for time but she didn't want to stick around any longer, she had had enough and she didn't want to tempt the opportunity for the drunken man to reappear. Puck and his band were still in full flow, they were now playing an assortment of songs by a band she didn't recognise. She let her hand slide from the door handle as she swivelled her head for one last look at the stage. Her brow raised in surprise when she saw the blonde was missing, her electric guitar was neatly placed in it's stand off to the side. Rachel supposed they didn't need her, Puck was swaying along to the music he and the rest of the band were creating as he sang into the mic, strumming on his own acoustic.

She mentally shrugged and swiftly pulled open the door and stepped into the frigid night air. Rachel gave a soft goodbye to Keith the bouncer and immediately berated herself for dressing for appearance, again neglecting the fact that the weather was fast approaching winter; the nights were now so bitter. Rachel picked her steps carefully as her heels clicked against the asphalt, the street lamps cast enough light for her to see that the pavement was sparkling with a fresh but dangerous layer of black ice.

She hugged her arms around her middle securely for warmth, white plumes of her breath swirled and vanished before her eyes. Her teeth chattered almost comically as she entered the cobbled street which was treacherous due to the uneven pebbles and rocks coated in the slick frost. Her steps became even more careful and precise, she just wished there was another route for her to take to save her the risk of braking her neck if she slipped.

Her steps faltered slightly when she heard the shuffle and scuff of shoes in the distance. They became more pronounced as they neared the opening of the cobbled lane and she realised she wasn't the only one risking their neck to get home, this knowledge made her feel better. She extended her arms for balance as she navigated her way around a particular icy clump of cobbles and as she did so she noticed the steps behind her became more hurried, the slap of their shoes neared closer.

Rachel was about to stop and turn around and tell this person to be careful, especially of this particular bend when the steps turned into flat out running. "Are you kidding me?" She muttered as she prepared herself to give this person a scolding for being so irresponsible of their health.

But before she could so, she was without warning shoved up against the brick wall that lined the street. The force resulted in her head smacking against the rough bricks and her legs loosing their footing as she stumbled to regain her balance. A pained groan rumbled from deep in her throat as her head lolled forward, her eyes blearily focused on two large hands that were pressing roughly into her abdomen. Rachel wheezed a breath as they pressed themselves more harshly into her soft stomach. The persons hands snaked further up her body and settled on her ribs where two thick thumbs rubbed hard massaging circles into the protruding bones.

"I told you, you're not leaving yet."

Rachel recognised that voice. Her drooped head slowly began to rise as she tried to blink away the dizziness she was overcome with; the knock to the head combined with alcohol made it extremely difficult for her to focus. Her eyes narrowed as the face of a man blurred in front of her, finally her vision settled and she could quite clearly see who had a hold of her.

Her eyes widened in horror and she knew straight away she was in trouble. As if the man could tell what her next move was inevitably going to be, he slapped a hand over her already parted mouth, his fingers digging into her cheeks. "I don't think so," he chuckled darkly.

Her screams of protest were muffled by his hand as she struggled and fought to release herself from his hold but he was too strong. "Shut the fuck up. No one is going to hear you," the man cruelly teased.

This only made her attempt to scream louder. The guy growled as one of her kicking legs connected with his shin, the hand over her mouth loosened and slipped as the sharp pain shot through the man's leg. "Stupid bitch!" He barked in her face, his other hand released itself from gripping her side and formed a fist.

The pain must have been one of the worst she had ever felt. The hard knuckled fist connected with her abdomen, the force of the punch caused an eruption of shooting pains to course through her stomach and upper body. Rachel chocked a cough as her torso involuntarily hunched due to the pain, she realised then that her mouth was no longer covered.

"Serves you right. Now are you going to shut that hole in your face or am I gonna have to, hm?" He emphasised his point by lowering his still clenched fist to the the zipper of his jeans.

Rachel all but heaved at the thought. She wheezed from the throbbing pain in her stomach and violently shook her head, her lower lip trembled as silent tears streaked down her cheeks and dripped off the curve of her jaw. The man seemed to approve of her decision as he answered, "good girl."

She whimpered when the man lowered his head so it was level with her neck. He began to kiss up her taught throat as she tried to strain away from his insistent lips. He chuckled at her actions and grabbed a hold of her neck, stilling her from any more movement. "Relax," he told her, "you'll enjoy this."

A stammered chorus of "no's," and weak wails escaped from her chapped lips. The hand around her neck flexed and squeezed tightly around her throat preventing her from anymore attempts at using her voice. He titled her neck to the side and licked a tight line up to her ear where he then pulled her earlobe between his teeth and bit down. Rachel thrashed against him as she felt a calloused hand run up the length of her thigh which disappeared underneath the hem of her skirt.

When the distinctive zip of a zipper being pulled pierced the air around them through her desperate sobs and his heavy pants, she screamed so hard against the hand clamped around her throat her eyes streamed with tears at the strain.

And later she will be so glad that she had tried because her efforts were rewarded. She hears the slap of shoes hitting the iced cobbles and then the stumble as they obviously falter and skid on the slick frost, but then they're running again and this person is so close Rachel can almost sigh with relief.

The guy doesn't seem to notice the distinctive sound of another person fast approaching or the way Rachel was furiously beating her closed fists against his chest until an echoing thump resounds through the bitter air. His assault came to a halt from the punch to his back, his hand slipped from gripping Rachel's throat as he turned slowly with an unreadable expression.

A deep, pained yelp suddenly filled the space around it's occupants. Rachel watched in shock from her slumped position on the ground as the man staggered backwards, fiercely clutching his nose between both hands. Her eyes swivelled from the now slumped figure to that of a girl. The dim street lamps didn't provide much light but it was enough for Rachel to decipher who her saviour was.

She continued to watch on with pure shock as the blonde guitarist stalked forward towards the whimpering man who was inspecting his dark stained hands with what was unmistakably blood. He looked up when he saw her approaching form and his expression transformed from what was frightened to anger.

"You fucking broke my nose!" He yelled, pushing himself off of the brick wall. The blonde didn't stop, she marched forward with curling hands and when the two met halfway, she threw her forearm back without any amount of hesitation and swung her fist to connect again with the already broken nose.

The guy positively wailed in pain. His hands flew up to grasp once more at the nose that was spurting blood and fell to the ground along side Rachel with the force of the punch. Rachel shifted as far away as possible from the drunk and stared up at the guitarist who was once again advancing on the groaning man. In a situation like this, Rachel felt compelled to say something, anything but she was stunned into silence. Of course, the man deserved the punches from the blonde but now, Rachel thought he had had enough.

The blonde's eyes were screwed into furious slits while her face was contorted with absolute rage as she relentlessly pounded and kicked the unmoving figure on the ground. Her blows never ceased or slowed as she attacked the man who was making weak noises of protest. The thing that Rachel was finding most hard to believe was that through the entire ordeal, the blonde remained completely silent.

"Stop," she croaked as she reached out towards the blonde, her other hand gingerly rubbed at her sore throat. But the blonde didn't listen. The air was now filled with the guitarists strained grunts of breath as she continued to beat the man with the same continues vigour.

And she didn't slow even when the shouts of a man echoed down towards them from the opening of the cobbled street. Rachel reluctantly turned her concerned attention away from the scene before her when the shouts became clearer as they guy neared closer.

"Quinn!" Rachel knew that voice. Her suspicions were confirmed when Puck came sprinting into view and skidded to a halt when he saw the scene playing out in front of his shocked eyes.

He remained still as he just watched with an open mouth as the blonde guitarist punched, slapped, kicked, and kneed the crumpled guy on the frozen floor. His wide eyes flickered to those of Rachel's who was still slumped on the floor clutching her throat and he seemed to snap out of his trance.

"Quinn!" Puck yelled, his voice was laced with an abundance of concern and utter disbelief. He rushed forward and wrapped his arms around the blonde's waist and dragged her backwards.

The blonde, who Rachel had learnt the girls name was Quinn, immediately deflated once she was enveloped in Puck's strong arms. She buried her face into the crook of Pucks wide neck as her chest heaved with exertion. Puck began to soothingly stroke the back of the girls head in comfort while muttering reassuring words under his breath.

"Fuckin' crazy bitch," the weak groan which came from just behind Quinn's turned back alerted Puck's attention. He tilted his head to side to the see the figure of man crouched over himself, clutching his right side and nose, wheezing.

When he thought she was was calm enough and her breathing was under control, he released her from his hold. Rachel watched as the blonde girl slumped against the opposite wall, wrapping her arms around her brought up knees as she hid her face from view in the dip her raised thighs provided.

Puck's face became an expression of stone. His entire jaw clenched, causing the vain in his forehead to pulse and twitch as his eyes became lit with a dangerous fire. Rachel just knew then that the singer had figured out the situation. As he advanced on the beaten man his eyes shifted to Rachel's. He held her frightened gaze for a moment before they became focused solely on the figure before him.

"You." He spoke with a low, monotone voice.

The guy still hunched on the floor squinted up through his blackened eyes at the large man before him. He attempted to gain his footing and stand but stumbled forward and fell due to the pain. He groaned and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Puck recognised the man through the bruising and swollen, bloodied nose as the one from before. The one who had interfered with the confrontation between him and Rachel. He knew he shouldn't have left her with him. He could smell the alcohol on the guy from a mile off, he just didn't want any trouble and reluctantly left.

He took another step forward so his feet were virtually in the man's face and bent down. He grabbed the guy around the neck of his stained top and heaved him to his feet. Puck shoved him up against the rough brick wall and although he was shorter than the drunken guy he still made sure he was glowering down at him.

The man chuckled in Puck's face and leaned forward so their brows were barely touching. "What are you gonna do? Bitch deserved it."

Puck sucked in a sharp breath through his flared nostrils, his lips were reduced to a thin white line. He drew a strong fist back and without warning, hit the guy square in the stomach effectively knocking him to the ground once more. He spluttered and groaned as he rolled over onto his back, gripping his abdomen in complete pain. Puck drew back his leg with clenched fists, ready to give the man another few beatings before he was sufficiently satisfied when Rachel scrambled to her feet and grabbed a hold of his stiff bicep.

"Stop! Please, no more. He's had enough, look at him," Rachel frantically gestured towards the pathetic heap on the floor before Puck took no notice and pursued his attack.

Puck's breathing was heavy as he glared down at the man but relaxed his arms and unclenched his fists. He sighed and turned to face Rachel. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah, j-just a bit sore. And cold." She stammered with a shaky smile.

He gave a slow nod and then looked at her questioningly, "he didn't, y'know..." He eyed her ruffled skirt and her ripped skin tone tights.

"No, I'm fine. He didn't do anything except well, he hit me-" Puck seemed to puff up at the mention of this and took a threatening step forward but she quickly rushed to rectify herself. "But, I'm okay, honestly. She came just in time."

Puck already knew who she was referring to but followed the brunettes warm gaze to the hunched form that was Quinn's. "Puck, what the hell is going on?"

Puck sighed and ran a wide hand over the length of his face. He turned and carefully approached the blonde who was slightly rocking back and forth against the wall, her face still buried from view. He gently prised her crossed arms away from her knees and hooked his hands underneath her armpits. She followed his silent instructions and let him guide her to her feet, he brought his lips to her ear and whispered something in which the blonde gave a barely there nod.

He wrapped a careful arm around Quinn's waist and turned to face Rachel with a tired expression. "Come on, I'll explain everything."


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Happy New Year guys (: Hope you all had a good time whatever you did last night. My ridiculous plan to drink my weight in wine hasn't settled too well with me today so I apologise for any mistakes as this was written severely hungover._

_Enjoy._

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_Rachel let Puck and Quinn walk on ahead, she watched as Puck flexed his arm around the blonde's small waist and pulled her further into his body for support and probably warmth. She could see the two were very close. The girl's head fell to his shoulder as she nursed her sore and bruised hands, Rachel couldn't imagine her playing guitar for quite a while.

The brunette twisted her torso before she headed after the pair to regard the man on the floor. He was still whimpering with groans of pain and obvious discomfort. She debated whether she should help him or alert someone that he was hurt so she wouldn't have to personally deal with the guy. But now that the situation and dispersed and time aloud her mind to catch up with what had just transpired, she decided the man wasn't in that bad a shape. Even if his lungs sounded with protest with each cough that spluttered from his cut lips.

Rachel also hoped the man wouldn't press charges. After all, Puck had been quite vocal when calling the blonde's name and the man would clearly identify the two as the male lead and guitarist from the band that regularly played at the Vox bar. But if that were to be the case, then Rachel always had the argument that she was potentially nearly raped to save her and the pairs skins.

So she left the man, groaning for feeble pleas of help in the gutter where he belonged and stumbled after Puck and the blonde.

After being inactive for the fair amount of time she spent huddled on the freezing ground, her muscles had all but locked and tensed up due to their exposure to the frigid air. Her legs burned with cold as she tried her best to keep up with the two figures ahead. She tucked her chin into the hollow of her neck for the added warmth and protection from the bitter wind, the sparkling glitter of frost danced beneath her numb feet as she hurried on.

Puck led Quinn to the back entrance of Vox, he knew he had to avoid the bouncer and couldn't risk using the front entrance in case the guy questioned Rachel's dishevelled appearance. He motioned for the blonde to wait inside while he guided Rachel with an ushering hand to follow him side once she had arrived back at the bar. Despite being concerned for the girls well being, he was way to cold to wait outside for her.

"Is she okay?"

Puck peered over his shoulder from his crouched position on the floor to look at Rachel. The brunette was standing awkwardly in the door way to a small room, she felt as if she was intruding on a private moment. Puck was kneeling in front of a worn leather sofa, one of his hands gently placed upon the blondes brought up legs. The girl had mirrored her earlier position from the few minutes before when they were still in the cobbled street. Her whole body was scrunched together in an almost uncomfortable looking ball. Rachel gazed at the top of her blonde head, feeling a sudden twinge of sympathy for the girl.

"She will be. She just needs to be left quiet for a little while." Puck turned to face the guitarist again and patted her knee while he stood.

Rachel nodded and made her way more into the room. There was a lot of band equipment haphazardly slung into various corners and wires strewn across the floor, she figured this was Puck and his bands space for their things. She noticed there were so many guitars. The majority lined neatly against a far wall, the rest were huddled together in a corner of the room. The space they had for all of the equipment was nowhere near enough, she found if difficult just maneuvering her way through the mess on the floor to find a place where she could sit.

"Wait," Puck hurried over to one of the large amplifiers that Rachel was just about to perch herself on and quickly swiped up a handful of music sheets that were tossed on top.

She smiled in thanks and settled herself on top of the amp, her gaze drifting between Puck who was clearing a space for himself to sit and Quinn, who was still hunched together on the sofa.

"You're okay, right?" Puck asked from his position on the arm of the leather sofa.

"Just a little sore," her hand automatically fell to her stomach, "but yes I'm okay."

Puck gave an acknowledging grunt and the pair fell into a still silence. Rachel started to fidget with impatience as she waited for Puck to begin talking. He seemed just as on edge as her, after all they were three strangers alone in a small room brought together by unfortunate circumstances, it was only natural that the two of the three didn't know what to say. Rachel cleared her throat lightly and edged forward on her make shift seat. "So, how long have you guys been playing at this bar for?"

"At this bar, a year or so now. There is a lot of opportunity here."

"Opportunity?" Rachel inquired raising an eyebrow.

"There's more opportunity here to get spotted. You know, it's a big place and we get all types of crowds here, we could get lucky at some point." A light smile played at the corners of his lips.

"So you're serious, about what you want to do with your future?" Rachel asked for clarification.

He nodded and then carried on speaking. "Definitely. Me and some other guys from school got together and started playing, not really for an audience just for our own pleasure I guess."

Puck sucked in a slow breath and glanced behind his shoulder at the withdrawn girl. "Come on," he addressed Rachel, "I could use a cup of coffee, how about you?"

Rachel was about to question why the sudden change in conversation and why Puck chose this moment to unsettle them both but he was staring at the brunette with such a piercing gaze it was as if he were testing her to defy him. So she simply nodded with a puzzled expression and drew herself to her feet, following Puck to another side door attached to the smaller room.

He led her inside and closed the door behind himself quietly. The room, if it could even be called a room, was in fact a tiny kitchen area. There was a dainty oval table positioned in the centre which Rachel made her way to and sat herself at one of the three chairs that were scattered around it.

"Do you take milk, sugar?" She glanced up at Puck who was busy brewing a kettle and shifting around in a cupboard for two mugs.

She bit her tongue before her request for soya milk slipped out and asked for it black. She wasn't opposed to drinking coffee without any milk, besides her body still quaked with slight tremmers from being exposed to the icy night; she could use the warmth.

The singer placed the two steaming mugs at the table and took a seat. Rachel hands immediately circled the cup and sighed with contentment as her fingers began to regain their feeling.

"I can't be in the same room with her when I'm effectively going to be speaking about her. Almost seems like bitching, y'know?" Rachel glanced up from her mug to Puck, who was hunched over the table nursing his own coffee. She supposed she could see his logic so she nodded in understanding.

"I live not so far from here, with Quinn. We have our own apartment, it's nothing grand but it does us. We've known each other for all of our lives. We grew up in the same neighbourhood, went to all the same schools... she's my best friend. She always was musically inclined, she can play almost any instrument you put in front of her but it's the guitar where her talent shines. As she got older, her talent progressed and with age she just kept getting better and better. She never had any help, what she knows is all from being taught by herself."

"She's special," Rachel spoke softly.

"Yes. Anyone who has ever had the luck to see her play must realise that, that's why we draw in such a huge crowd. When me and the guys from school got together, I asked Quinn if she would join us. She didn't, but that was at first. Eventually, she started to play with us as long as she stayed in the comfort of our home. As we got better though, I wanted to branch out and test out some of the local pubs, to see if we were good enough. When we did that, Quinn stopped playing with us."

Puck took a lengthy sip of his coffee and continued. "It took me at least a year to coax her into playing with us at a local bar, this bar in fact. The time without her showed me that we were nowhere near as good as we thought we were. I chose this bar because at the time it was dead. And that's not an understatement, people didn't bother coming here because it was run down and there was no entertainment. After a lot of time spent asking and even pleading at some points she decided to come along and play with us for one night. As long as things remained quiet and low key we were alright."

Rachel was itching to know what was wrong with the blonde, and so far Puck hadn't given any indication to what was wrong with the subdued girl. Patience wasn't one of Rachel's strong suits, but she knew she had to wait.

"Quinn continued to play with us for a while. I could see she loved it, she enjoyed every second she was up on that stage- she was in her element. And things ran smoothly for a couple of months. Each week that we played, I noticed there would be a few more people gathered at the bar. If Quinn saw this, she didn't voice her concerns."

Rachel couldn't help but pipe up at this point, she had remained quiet for far too long much to her liking. "That must have been a good thing right?"

Puck scoffed a little. "You would think. But it only got worse. It was like she was testing herself for as long as she could, seeing how long she could stand it before she cracked. In a way I suppose It helped her, being in the public eye for a certain amount of time acted like her own personal diagnosed medicine."

"What happened?" Rachel leaned forward in her seat and stared openly at Puck.

He sighed and ran the length of of his hand over his face. "The bar owner liked us, said we were what his bar needed. He started to refurbish the bar, gave it a new name, installed us a proper stage, he even provided my drummer with a new kit. It was second hand from his son but it was the thought that counted. Of course, this drew in more crowds alone, it was like a brand new bar had opened. He advertised our band nearly every night to his punters and eventually he worked us out a schedule for when we could play at Vox."

"We carried on playing, and the numbers of people grew and we realised then that we were onto something. With Quinn we were brilliant, people told us so. Unfortunately it all came to an end about four months after the bar re-opened. The crowds that Quinn alone was drawing in were immense and she couldn't handle it, so she stopped playing. When that happened, the people stopped coming and the bar fell into a lull. There was no point in us carrying on without her so our weekly sets became less and less until we barely played at all."

He shifted in his chair so he was sitting sideways and rested his temple against a closed fist. "I literally begged for her to return to the band. I shouldn't of but I was desperate. We needed her, and it seemed selfish of me for wanting her because of her talent but she made us, she was and is the very heart of our band."

Puck immersed them into a thick silence. Rachel was unable to find something to say, she understood he wasn't finished with the conversation and that at the moment she would just have to wait and go along with the pace he was setting. He got up then and turned his back to Rachel as his popped the kettle back on, "you want another?" He waved his coffee mug at her which was dangling by the handle off his index finger.

"What happened, Puck?" Rachel asked, ignoring his earlier question.

"She came back," he spoke now with a light tone as he busied himself at the counter. "She likes me to think she did it because we needed her but I know the real reason was because she missed it. And in a way I think she knew it would help her condition, she knew she had to do it for herself."

Rachel clasped her hands in her lap to stop herself from noticeably fidgeting, though her leg still bounced impatiently. She waited in the hopes that Puck would continue but he didn't. She watched him eagerly as he leant himself against the counter top and sipped at his freshly brewed coffee.

She sighed. "Puck, what is wrong Quinn?" She couldn't help herself any longer.

He nodded to himself as if expecting the question and pushed himself forward. Placing his cup down he took his seat again and folded his arms across the table top. "She has a communicative disorder. In other words, she suffers from selective mutism, have you ever heard of it?"

Rachel was shocked. Of course, why hadn't she ever entertained the idea? She nodded dumbly, stunned into a daze.

"Well, she has that. The disorder tends to co-exist with social anxiety, which she unfortunately has. In Quinn's case it was quite severe at one point in her childhood life, but as she grew into her late teenage years it developed into a tamer version known simply as shyness."

"So she is able to speak?" Rachel asked.

"Oh yeah, she can speak perfectly. She isn't dumb or being ignorant like most people presume when they try and get a reaction out of her," he gave Rachel a pointed look. "In fact, at home she can sometimes speak in excess." He grinned at the dumbfounded look on the brunettes face.

Rachel features scrunched into a look of confusion. "Th-then how come she doesn't speak to me?" She fumbled over her words as her brain processed this new information.

"Selective mutism, Rachel," Puck emphasised each word by drawing them out. "She chooses who she wants to speak to. The only people that she talks to are me and her sister."

Rachel frowned in puzzlement. "What about her parents? Does she not speak to them?"

And it would seem that she had touched upon a delicate subject. Puck's chair clattered to the floor as he let the two legs he had being balancing on drop to all four. His jaw clinched and his eyes morphed into a hard, uncomfortable stare. Rachel met his gaze with a measured one of her own, she knew she shouldn't feel intimidated by the man sitting in front of her but there was something about Puck's protective nature that scared her.

When it was decided by Rachel that Puck wasn't making any attempt at answering her question, she pushed on tentatively. "...Puck, what happened to Quinn?"

Something must of happened to the blonde which most probably, gauged by Puck's reaction, involved her parents. The singer heaved a deep sigh through his nostrils and relaxed his stiff posture, effectively calming Rachel. He bowed his head for a moment and rubbed a hand over his Mohawk before titling his brow to look up at Rachel.

"Selective mutism is a mental disorder okay, it can affect both adults and children but mostly children. There is no definite cause as to why kids suffer with it, at least that's what the doctors say. Quinn was always an exceptionally reserved child, she never interacted well with other kids or in social situations. But she did speak, maybe not as much as the average child but she wasn't a mute. Her parents thought that it was just because she was shy and a little withdrawn and eventually she'd grow out of it once she attended middle school."

He scowled at nothing in particular as his mind was flooded with past memories of their childhood. His lips curled in distaste as he recalled the few to Rachel.

"She didn't grow out of it, it became worse because of her damn parents." His voice grew in volume with anger as he surged on. "If they had just left her alone and dealt with her like normal parents then she wouldn't be who she is today!" He unexpectedly slammed a balled fist against the table with enough force to knock over his mug of coffee.

Rachel jumped with a squeak at the sudden bang, her eyes alarmingly darted to Puck's grimacing face to the hot liquid cascading over the shiny linoleum table surface. The tiny room played host to Puck's heavy intakes of breaths and the demanding drip of coffee as it spilled against the tiled floor.

After a while in which Puck chose the time to regain his composure, he mumbled a distant "sorry" and grabbed a bunch of paper towels from an overhead cupboard.

"You don't need to finish if you don't want to," Rachel said comfortingly. She didn't want to push him, if the topic made him angry she didn't want to subject herself to the singers flaring temper.

Puck heaved himself to his feet and slung the clump of now sodden paper towels into a plastic bag which acted as a makeshift bin. "It's fine, I'm sorry. They just...they make me so mad."

He dumped the empty mug into a small steel sink and started pacing the length of the kitchen back and forth. He clasped both of his hands behind his neck and tilted his head towards the ceiling as he continued his pacing.

"When her dad realised that his daughter wasn't making any progress he took matters into his own hands," he breathed a sad sigh, "he use to hit her. Try and beat the 'illness' out of her."

Puck ignored the sharp gasp to his right and unwillingly continued. "The two people in the whole world who she thought she could trust, the two people who are supposed to love you unconditionally turned their backs on their daughter because she wasn't like all the other kids. Her mother as far as I know never laid a finger on her, but she didn't do anything to protect Quinn either. She didn't stop her bastard husband, turning a blind eye was all she was ever good for."

His furious steps faltered and he slowed. His body slumped once more against the counter top as he faced Rachel with a dejected look.

"The abuse got so bad that in the end she completely caved in on herself. She lost all hope that she would ever be normal. Her dad made her believe that it was all her fault and she deserved everything she received. Despite me wanting to report her parents, she pleaded with me to just let it go. So when she finally turned eighteen she moved out of her parents house and in with my family. Not long after that we bought ourselves our own apartment and have lived together ever since. She never fully recovered though, the hurt she has experienced has deeply affected her."

Puck pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and middle finger and huffed a sigh."It's okay. You don't need to pass comment. I don't expect you to find something to say, I get that." He assured seeing the look on the brunettes face.

Rachel just blinked up at him and nodded shakily with a slightly parted mouth. "I...what about her sister?"

"She's a lot older than Quinn, she lives in England with her husband and kids. When the abuse first started she was at college so she was never around to see it. She knows little about what happened but what she does know is enough. She has no contact with her dad and very little with her mom, she tries to support Quinn as much as she can," he said.

She shook her head, her eyes slipping shut as the history of the blonde's childhood sunk in. She found it hard to believe that someone, a father and a mother, could punish their child for being different. "Didn't they understand that she had a mental disorder, didn't the doctors tell them this?" Rachel spoke.

Puck scoffed and crossed his arms loosely over his chest. "They didn't take her to a doctor. Apparently they believed there was nothing wrong with her and she was just being a stubborn defiant child. They didn't understand that what she was suffering with was psychological. It was only when she came to live with me and my family that we took her to see a specialist and they diagnosed her with the disorder."

The two lapsed into a morose silence. Rachel slumped back in her seat, a feeling of sudden sadness had descended upon her. She felt so sorry for the poor girl in the other room, she was utterly appalled and completely angered. She felt lost and left bubbling with the need to do _something_ that could express her contempt for these people that she had never met.

Her bitter expression darkened as she ground her rows of teeth together causing her jaw to jut. She only glanced up from furiously picking at her nails when she heard a wistful sigh break the quiet. Puck was looking at her with a pensive expression, the corners of his lips curved into an understanding smile when he realised Rachel was staring at him.

"I get that you're feeling angry at the moment but it's not like you can do anything, it's all in the past now, no need to beat yourself up about it. Quinn has moved on, she's accepted herself and y'know, we've dealt with all the bad. She lives a happy, comfortable life now."

Rachel's gaze dropped to her hands bunched in her lap, her eyes raised to once again meet Puck's. "Is she really happy?" She asked, almost disbelievingly.

Puck pursed his lips, his dark eyes narrowed at the girl in front of him as he head moved in a slow nod. "Is anyone ever _really_ happy?" His voice intoned that the question was rhetorical so Rachel remained quiet, unable to decide if Puck wanted her to answer or not.

He spoke up again. "There are always going to parts of someone's life that they are not content with. She's okay, Rachel. Really."

His assurance helped to ease her concerns for the blonde guitarist, her eyes slipped from his to focus on the clasped hands in her lap. Her attention was caught by the delicate band of silver circled around her wrist and all of a sudden, she felt her stomach drop.

"Crap," it was barely a whisper but it was loud enough to gain Puck's attention.

"What's wrong?" He leaned forward, ducking his head to catch the panicked expression Rachel's face wore.

Rachel continued to stare with worried eyes at her wrist watch as the time displayed sunk in. "Crap," she repeated, louder this time as she jumped up from her seat. The chair fell on it's back with a clatter at the sudden movement.

"I have to go. Oh God I'm going to be in so much trouble," she whined as her hands snaked through her hair and clutched thick handfuls.

"What's the matter?" Puck asked again, sidling around the table to stand in front of the panicky brunette.

She looked up at the singer with wide eyes as her hands pulled at the dark clumps of hair in a desperate manner. "It's just gone half past ten, I was meant to be home for half past. My dads are going to kill me!"

"Dads?"

She ignored the puzzled enquiry as she stood fidgeting beside Puck, frantically biting at the nail on her ring finger as she tried to think up a sufficient plan as to why she would be late home.

"Calm down, it's no pro-" Puck was cut off by a frantic Rachel as she advanced on him.

"Calm down!" She exclaimed, "I can't 'calm down', look at the time," she glanced down at her wrist and scowled at the watches face before thrusting her hand in the singers line of vision so he could read the small Roman Numerals.

Puck sighed and batted her hand away from his face. "I can give you a ride back to your place, it's no problem."

She stared up at him blankly for a few seconds before her lips slid into a wide, relieved smile. "Really? A-are you sure? I mean, I suppose I could find myself a taxi though that would mean risking a journey down that treacherous street and I don't quite fancy-"

He held up a hand to silence the small babbling brunette and swiftly interrupted, "It's fine, really. If we leave now I can get you home in less then thirty minutes."

She nodded vigorously as she smoothed her mussed hair with her palms and followed Puck to the kitchen door. He opened it quietly and led the way back into the equipment room, Rachel peeked over his shoulder as his foot steps slowed to see the blonde sitting still on the worn leather sofa.

She was no longer huddled together in a ball but sitting with her posture straight, her back pressed against the cushions of the sofa and her hands neatly folded in her lap. Her expression was blank as she stared ahead of her at no particular spot in the room and only glanced up when she heard the door creak open and Puck re-entered the room. She remained staring at him until her attention was caught by the pair of dark eyes looking at her over a muscular shoulder. Immediately, her eyes widened with something Rachel couldn't quite place and she jerked her focus away from the pair to bow her head in the hollow of her neck.

Rachel heard Puck sigh audibly and halted her steps to follow him as he moved over to the guitarist. He bent over her and began talking in a hushed tone, after a minute or so Quinn gave a small nod and brought her legs up onto the sofa to wrap her arms around.

Rachel shifted from one foot to the other, her front teeth chewed her bottom lip nervously as she contemplated her next move. There was one more thing she needed to do before she left, she couldn't leave without carrying it out. Her gaze flickered to Puck who was waiting for her by the back entrance to the blonde who had curled in on herself again. She acted quickly before she changed her mind and took the few small strides over to the leather sofa. She hesitated for a brief second before she sunk into the seat next to the girl.

As soon as the blonde sensed the movement next to her, her whole body visibly stiffened. The brunette took note of the pale hands grasped tightly around her knees turn an even paler shade of white as the grip she held strained her tendons. She could distinctively hear the girls intakes of breath become more uneven, heavier.

She turned her head to face Puck, his jaw was clenched and his expression stern but it wasn't enough to off put Rachel. She tore her gaze away from his apprehensive eyes and turned to look at the girl beside her. With a careful movement she tentatively reached out and placed a gentle hand upon the blonde's stiff shoulder.

She paid no mind to the acute gasp to her right and simply spoke. "Thank you."


End file.
